BBVA Increases Stake In UK’s Atom Bank

BBVA, the Spanish bank, announced news on Wednesday (March 7) that it has raised its stake in Atom Bank, the U.K. digital bank.

In a press release, BBVA said it’s investing about €96 million into Atom and is increasing its stake to roughly 39 percent. With the latest investment, BBVA said the total investment thus far amounts to €189 million.

“The move is a sign of BBVA’s confidence in both the business strategy and management team at Atom, which is rated as the number one provider by net promoter score in the U.K. for its savings products,” BBVA said in press release. “We are fully aligned with the vision of banking that Atom is pursuing, and the disruption it is already bringing to the U.K. financial services sector.”

Atom also raised money from other investors in this round, with the financial institution raising a total of £149 million. The new capital will fund the bank’s growth and will support an increase in new clients as well as build out its core capabilities, BBVA said, noting Atom will roll out new products and services as a result of the funding.

“Atom has already demonstrated its ability to execute on its strategy, having secured a balance sheet of over £1.3 billion in deposits and has lent over £1.2 billion through residential mortgages and business loans in less than a year,” said BBVA. “It boasts the fastest account opening time in the U.K., with just five minutes from downloading the app to account opening — provided the right requirements are in place.”

According to BBVA, in the future, Atom will analyze how PSD2 and Open Banking can help its customers with their financial decisions.

“We are very proud of what we have achieved in the Atom journey to date, and we are excited about our plans for the future. This further significant injection of capital secures the bank’s place as a disruptive force in the mainstream of U.K. banking. We will continue to invest in growth, in our technology and in our products as we continue to push ahead with the support of our investors,” said Mark Mullen, CEO of Atom, in the same press release.